Background

Gypsy Girl

Mariscka Emil - the only child of Alyssa Emil, doted on and raised not only by her mother but by her Grandmother and Great-Grandmother. (Well, all right, Mari was raised mostly by her Grandmother, Alyssa being a flighty working mother who still wanted a social life.) Thanks to the elder two Emil women of the clan, Mariscka managed to have a somewhat normal life growing up. If you consider growing up in a family of Romanii and spending most of her time in her Grandmother's Fortune-Telling shop … normal.

Let us back up, and start at the beginning, or some vague semblance of it, at least. The Emil women … have a gift. They always have. Some women accept that gift, some women run from that gift - then there is Alyssa mother a woman determined to prove she was different from her family. The gift is to see the future. Sometimes one needs mediums to focus their gift, usually when they are beginning their training. Focii are things like crystals, palms, rolling bones, and then there is the family treasure - an ancient deck of Tarot passed down from one generation to the next.

The true potential of the Emil women is not discovered until after they turn 16 - if they can keep themselves pure. Some women have had no more potential than readings with the focii, but some women have been burned at the stake in the past for being witches - having the ability to see the future, put hexes and curses on people, and sometimes even boons. Though, those women died praising God on their lips, and claiming the 'blessings' of magic choose the form, not always the one expected, it is but how the one who is 'blessed' by the Gift lives their life that determines if it be curse or boon.

That is the life Alyssa ran from - determined not to be burdened and sour and dour like her own mother or grandmother. And sure enough, Mariscka was born not quite a year from Alyssa's 16 birthday. And Alyssa never even bothered to remember who the father was - or she was hiding it for no one knows and Alyssa deftly changes the subject each time she is asked.

And so, that is how Mariscka came into the world - a wriggling, writhing, pink little thing, so innocent and unaware of the gifts she had inherited.

Growing Up Gypsy

What Alyssa ran from, Mariscka was fascinated with. So Mari did not mind the fact that the family lived above a Fortune-Telling shop in an old part of Baltimore. The shop, as Mari was a child, was her playground, a fantastical place where everything was wonderful and beautiful, or it could be a horrible monster needing to be slain. This was fine, and even encouraged by her grandmother and Great-grandmother who saw the imagination of the child as a sign of how powerful in the Gift she just might be. They would play games with Mariscka, teaching her children's rhymes, which were, in fact, simple spells, given the right focii or medium used.

Mariscka gobbled it up, until it was time for school. That is when Alyssa became obsessed that Mariscka would excel at everything. She worked hard, and managed to get Mariscka into an overpriced pre-school which taught the young child all manner of necessary skills: counting, reading, writing, and what have you. By the time Mariscka was ready for public school, she was reading books far more advanced than most in her kindergarten class.

Alyssa managed to get Mariscka into a charter school in the New York public school system for 'advanced' children, which meant a great deal of homework. And less time, in particular, playing in the Fortune-Teller's shop that was the purview of the elder two Emil women. Both of them knew what Alyssa was trying to do, but Alyssa had to work long hours, and so they made a game of it with Mariscka, doing homework in the shop, and sneaking in when her Mother was away on her 'dates' to see if she could hide her extra studies from her mother. In fact, Mariscka had to become adept at scooping up items from the shop which accidentally got dragged upstairs into the home, before her mother could see. It was all a big game without harm, after all.

By the time Mariscka was preparing to move on to High School, she had learned a great deal of Latin, as well as Romanii, though English was her native tongue. She got along well enough in school, though she rarely brought friends over, for fear her Mother might try to hit on the boys, or she would scare them all off before they could even learn to enjoy her grandmother's shop. And then if Mariscka wasn't doing homework, her mother wasn't happy, either. So outside of school, she really didn't have friends. Until the last semester before summer. Alyssa suddenly started pushing Mariscka about her friends, and going and 'hanging out' and the like, to the point where if Mariscka didn't, Alyssa would take her where kids 'hung out' and leave Mariscka there to find her own way home.

Alyssa was a strange mother, to say the least.

During this time, there were two events which happened to shape Mariscka's life. First, her great-grandmother called her into her room, for she was now bedridden and dying of age. It wasn't a sad time, because there were so many wonderful stories that her great-grandmother told about her life, about the past, and secretly about legends of magic. It was in these times spent with her great-grandmother than the matriarch of the Emil women taught Mariscka of the Tarot - what is symbolized, how to read it, and how to use it in it's complex forms. The elder Emil could see just how powerful a gift Mari had, and before the lessons ended with her death, she gave Mari the ancient tarot deck she had always revered as a child, and bid her hide it away from her mother, but to never forget it.

It would save her life one day.

After being dropped off, AGAIN, this time near downtown, Mariscka was having to make her way home (thanks so much, Mother!). She was alone, walking from one subway connection to another, and made a wrong turn. Truth be told her attention was on the ancient cards in her had - for she had tucked the Tarot deck in her jacket pocket before her mother realized. By the time Mariscka realized there were two young men following her, it was too late to get away. She turned around, just as they tried to reach for her. A shocked gasp escaping her lips, the young woman uttered 'Domn, proteja mă' <Lord, protect me> in Romanii. There was a sudden golden light from her hands, the cards spilling forth, like a great breeze had picked them up. They whirled and swirled around Mariscka of their own. One of the young men ran off at the display, the other only seemed more intent. He tried attacking Mariscka, though the cards stopped him. Still, Mariscka was afraid, and she held forth her hand and cried, 'mă lăsa în pace' <Leave me alone>. One of the cards flew up in front of Mariscka and hovered there - The Temperance card - and all Mariscka could do was watch. The card spun to face the man attacking Mariscka and again it glowed, this time it was a cool blue - a blue light reflected in the ruffian's eyes. He dropped his arms and stared at Mariscka for a moment, then he turned and walked away. It took Mari a moment to return to her senses, instead of gawking. She held out her hand, and the Tarot neatly sorted itself into her hands.

Yvanka Emil, Mari's grandmother was asleep by the time Mari made it home - so she had no one to tell about the fantastic thing that had unfolded before her eyes. So Mari curled up in bed with the Tarot deck, and studied it curiously, before falling asleep much later. Waking up late, Mari quickly hid the deck and managed to work her way to the kitchen. Her mother was there, nursing one of her 'hangover specials' which … for some reason really annoyed Mari that day. Her grandmother was cooking a large breakfast, mostly for Mari, but for Alyssa as well, smiling and beaming.

"Mari," Yvanka said, "You had a special delivery today. A letter by courier," she offered, nodding to an envelope on the table.

"Ooooh! Maybe it's a modeling agency interested in you!," cried her mother, trying to be chipper despite the pounding of her head. "I sent out those head-shots, after all."

Mari just sighed, and made her way to the table. She opened the envelope and pulled out a brochure, and a letter. The brochure was to someplace called the Steranko Institute, and she paid it no mind. Her mother easily scooped it up and began flipping through it. "Well, well, isn't this a nice College Prep school," she started.

The letter almost … shimmered, well the ink of it did, and that is what had Mariscka's attention. It was a fairly simple and straightforward letter, really and it read:

Mariscka Emil,
You have been accepted to the Steranko Institute, a place of higher education and enlightment for young men and women with gifts beyond the normal populace. Your tuition has been paid for by a benefactor who wishes, for now, to remain anonymous. But because of their references to your character, we are quite willing and happy to offer you the invitation to come to Cove City, Maryland and begin classes at your earliest convenience.

Sophia Baker
Headmaster

Blinking at the letter, Mariscka did not even realize her mother had moved to read over her shoulder. "Oooh, how interesting. What an aggressive Prep school. They want to you start this summer. And they even have the classes listed they think best for you. Algebra, Chemistry, Biology, AND Physics? Oh, this is wonderful, Mari! I wish Nana could have been here to see this! We'll have to pack! A full scholarship! My daughter got a full scholarship!"

Mariscka just stared at her mother. That wasn't what the letter said. She was about to say something, when her grandmother Yvanka put a hand on her shoulder. "Let her believe that is what it says. I think … the real message was for you and only you," she offered before moving back to the stove to finish breakfast.

And so Mariscka found herself on a train a few days after school was finished, to Cove City, Maryland, about to start a new life. Absently she pulled a card from the top of the Tarot deck and peered face to face with 'The Fool'.

Personality

Mariscka is soft-spoken, introspective, bookish. It's the only way she knows how to be. She has hide her learning of the Tarot and old magiks from her mother, while doing nothing but study to please her mother. She is affable enough, though in such a new environment as Steranko, it might take a little bit to pull her out of her shell. However, when Mariscka decides something, she stubbornly sticks by that decision. If Mariscka makes a friend, she has made one for life and would do everything she could to protect her friends. To Mariscka, while away from her mother and grandmother, the students who are more like her than she realized anyone could be, are to be her new, extended family. And Family is exceedingly improtant to the Romanii.

Logs

Soda Jerks: 6/11/10 A pleasant summer Friday at the Pharmacy and soda shop is disrupted when some hoodlums decide to try to rob the place. They get more than they bargained for when three Steranko students (Adrian, Mariscka, and Wilberforce) step in to save the day. - Emitted by Adrian

A blue-green Florentine crystal etched with Arcane Mathmatics dangling from a necklace around Mariscka/Tarot's neck. When activated - well - things get slippery.

Complications

Lead: It's not just for Supermen anymore! - Lead's alchemical properties block all attempts at divination, and even elemental effects. If someone is encased in lead, Mariscka cannot divine their location, her attempts are blocked. If someone is standing behind a lead shield, Mariscka's abilities will not affect them, nor will her Mystical Awareness sense them.

ACK! I'm blind! - Visual effects can be particularly devastating to Mariscka's usefulness. While affected by an obscure, visual dazzle, or any other such attack, Mariscka is unable to properly see the Tarot to use or to read them.

Pushy Mother - Alyssa is constantly on Mariscka's case to do her homework, or involve herself in social situations. This heroing business is just a distraction, she's not getting any boyfriends that way! As such, Alyssa is constantly in the way, and constantly getting kidnapped, making Mariscka's life rather difficult.